1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a connector which electrically connects printed wiring boards to each other, there is a known connector including a header mounted on a first printed wiring board and a socket mounted on a second printed wiring board which is opposed to the first printed wiring board.
As a connector of this kind, there is one having a socket 2 as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-59589).
The socket 2 includes a socket body 5 which is made of insulation material and provided with a connection recess 20. A header is inserted into and pulled out from the connection recess 20 in a predetermined insertion/withdrawal direction ID (vertical direction in FIG. 1B). The socket 2 also includes a plurality of socket contacts 6 held by the socket body 5 such that the socket contacts 6 come into contact with and brought into conduction with header contacts 4 which are conductive members on the side of the header when the header is inserted into the connection recess 20. The socket contacts 6 come into contact with the header contacts inside the connection recess 20. Each socket contact 6 includes a terminal 61 electrically soldered to the second printed wiring board. The socket 2 is provided with a plurality of pairs of socket contacts 6 having the terminals 61 projecting (vertical direction in FIG. 1A, “terminal direction TD”, hereinafter) from the socket body 5 in opposite directions from each other in a direction (lateral direction in FIG. 1A, hereinafter, “pitch direction PD”) intersecting with the insertion/withdrawal direction ID and the terminal direction TD.
Pitch direction shields 81 are held at both ends of the pitch direction PD of the socket body 5, and terminal direction shields 82 are held at both ends of the socket body 5 in the terminal direction TD.
The pitch direction shields 81 and the terminal direction shields 82 are made of metal plates and electrically grounded. The pitch direction shields 81 and the terminal direction shields 82 constitute an annular shell surrounding the connection recess 20 as viewed from the insertion/withdrawal direction ID, and the pitch direction shields 81 and the terminal direction shields 82 prevent electromagnetic noise from being mixed into electrical signals sent through the socket contact 6. If the shell is made up of the pitch direction shields 81 and the terminal direction shields 82 as described above, there is a merit that it is only necessary to change the terminal direction shield 82 in a connector having different number of pairs of the socket contacts 6, the pitch direction shields 81 can commonly be used, and as compared with a case that the shell is made up of only one part, it is easy to produce the connector.
More specifically, the terminal direction shield 82 includes a body portion 82a whose thickness direction is oriented in the terminal direction TD, and a terminal 82c projecting outward in the terminal direction TD from a lower end of the body portion 82a. The terminal direction shield 82 is soldered to a conductive pattern (“ground pattern”, hereinafter) which is provided on the second printed wiring board and electrically grounded. With this arrangement, the terminal direction shield 82 is electrically grounded.
Each pitch direction shield 81 includes a body portion 81a whose thickness direction is oriented in the pitch direction PD, and an arms 81f projecting inward in the pitch direction PD from both ends of the body portion 81a in the terminal direction. The arms 81f come into elastic contact with the body portions 82a of the terminal direction shield 82, and the pitch direction shield 81 is electrically grounded through the terminal direction shield 82.
However, since the pitch direction shield 81 is grounded through the terminal direction shield 82, the reliability of connection between the pitch direction shield 81 and the ground is poor.